Michael Rae
Michael Stephen Rae (August 23rd, 2172-January 9th, 2260) was a member of the Kirlawan House of Representatives representing Merkan (no area 2248-2249, Banvolo and Fratenor 2249-2252, Banvolo South-Banvolo and Fratenor 2252-2260), and Mayor of Banvolo from 2228 to 2244. He was a member of the Kirlawa Green Party and later the Liberal Progressive Party, and challenged Joseph Edwards in the 2236 Liberal Progressive leadership election. Rae was born to a lower-middle class family in inner Banvolo in 2172. He was noted as gifted at a young age, and went to Ekathi University, gaining a degree in politics and modern history. He was active politically from the age of 17, and was elected to the Student Representative Council in 2193, where he was noted for his oratical skills. He went into business as a political historian, running for mayor of his hometown of Banvolo as an independent in 2200, 2204 and 2208. He joined the Kirlawa Green Party in 2209, and stayed in the party for many years as a low-ranking member. He managed to get on the party's Merkanese list in 2219 and for the following two elections in 2222 and 2225, all three times at 14th on the list (thus failing to be elected). He resigned from the Greens in 2227, citing his disagreement with some parts of the party policy and his desire to run for Mayor of Banvolo as an independent. He ran for Mayor as an independent in 2228 after several years out of politics after trending leftwards, successfullu being elected and then re-elected in 2232 and in 2236 became one of the founding members of the Liberal Progressive Party. The oldest member of the Ishis Declaration at 60, Rae attempted an unsuccessful run at the leadership, garnering only 8% of the vote. Rae went on to serve as the party's Merkanese Co-ordinator from 2237 to 2244 and as Mayor under the party banner from 2236 to 2240, before he agreed to take up a space on the party list in 2245. In 2248, he was elected owing to his position as 3rd on the list, and spearheaded a drive to reverse identity card legislation. He spoke in support in 2249 of the Electoral Commission decision to institute electoral sub-regions, and became a member for the Banvolo and Fratenor division. He was comfortably elected at the top of the Liberal Progressive (now open) list in the area, and took a large majority of the vote in his South Banvolo district after he was first elected there in 2254 following new legislation. Rae became considered a party elder statesman in his later years, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Progressive Party from 2253 to 2258, and then Chairman until his death. He was renowned as a popular figure, and after his death at his home of natural causes in 2260 hundreds of well-wishers in his home town of Banvolo packed the streets to pay their respects. Rae had a wife, Hilda Rae, who died in 2264. He also had two children, Harry and Robert. Category:Liberal Progressive Party (Kirlawa)